Producing Consistent High Quality Fruit in Japan

1 Producing Consistent high Quality Fruit in Japan John Y. Yonemoto Jinnai Tropical Fruit Research Laboratory) Greenhouses in winter at Jinnai Farm Japan . We grow mango, avocado, cherimoya, passion Fruit , star Fruit in snow Today, I would like to talk about 4 points First; Situation of Japanese domestic Fruit consump ion and production. 2nd.; How much fresh Fruit we import into Japan . 3rd.; Why we must produce high Quality Fruit to obtain high price. 4th.; How we produce high Quality Fruit , one example of mango production How much we consume fruits in Japan ? We used to consumed more than 7 million ton that was 70kg per capita in a year. Now we consume less than 3 million ton, 20kg per capita.

2 Two major Fruit crops are Satsuma mandarin and apple. In 2011, total bearing acreage of Fruit was ( million ha), and production ( million ton) . Total production in 2011 ( million ton) Production (million ton) How about imported Fruit ? We import million tons annually. The value of the imported Fruit is $ million. However, Banana occupy 1 million tons, followed by grapefruit ( tons), oranges ( million tons), and lemon ( million tons). 1984 1989 1994 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Imported Fruit million ton) Domestically produced Fruit (million ton) Quantity of marketed fruits (million ton) Year Fig.

3 Quantity of marketed fruits in Japan Quantity of imported fruits (million ton) Value of imported fruits (million Imported Fruit quantity (million ton) Imported Fruit Value (million $) Years Fig. Quantity and Value of imported fruits into Japan How about imported tropical fruits? Banana (1million ton) is No. 1 Pineapple ( million ton) is 2nd. Avocado (44000 ton) Mango (10000 ton) Papaya (2800 ton) Importation of avocado has been increased 0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,400,000 1,600,000 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 Banana Pineapple Mango Avocado Papaya To t a l Quantity (ton) Year Fig.)

4 Imported Banana, Pineapple, Mango, Avocado and Papaya into Japan 0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000 50,000 Mango Avocado Year Quantity (ton) Fig. Imported quantity of mango and avocado Tropical Fruit consumption is increasing slowly Greenhouse Mango is the most expensive tropical Fruit . The highest price at whole sale market was more than 10,000yen/kg ($50/lb) We produce 3,000 ton of mango under greenhouse in Japan . We import 10,000 tons and the average price was 500yen/kg ($ ). Mango import into Japan (Exchange rate is 80 yen/US$) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 Gross import CIF price (million $) Import quantity (ton) Year Gross Import (million$) Import quantity(ton) We produce tons from 400 ha greenhouses 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 Acrage (ha) Production (t) Year Production (ton) Acreage (ha)

5 Fig Mango production and acreage in Japan Price recovers in July for Gift Exchange 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 14-Mar 21-Mar 28-Mar 4-Apr 11-Apr 18-Apr 25-Apr 2-May 9-May 16-May 23-May 30-May 6-Jun 13-Jun 20-Jun Date Fig 1 Mango prices at Tokyo central wholesale The highest price The lowest price Price (Yen kg-1) Why is the a high Quality Fruit price so different from an ordinary Fruit ? We use the high Quality fruits as a gift. The higher the price, the larger the pleasure and satisfaction of customers are. However, the gift Fruit must be perfect; What means Quality in Japan 1. Ta ste ( high sugar content, Full maturity). 2. External appearance (Perfect color development, Free from any injury).

6 3. Safety (free from chemical contamination). 4. Traceability. Fruit Items for Gift 1. Muskmelon from Shizuoka used to be the most valuable Fruit gift. 2. Cherry ( Satohnishiki ) and Mango ( Irwin ) have replaced the Muskmelon now. Strawberry can be a valuable gift. Whatever a Fruit is perfect, it can be a valuable gift. Muskmelon, Cherry and Mango Strawberry price was 10500yen/box($125/box) March, Miyazaki mango price was 15750yen/2fruits($95/ Fruit ) At the same store, Mango from Mexico was 2100yen/ Fruit ($25/ Fruit ) At a super market, mango from Philippines was 395 yen/pack ($ ) Now you know a difference between domestic gift Fruit and imported one or domestic common Fruit Japanese growers must produce high Quality Fruit to obtain high price, even though the production cost is very high .

7 Let me explain how we produce perfect mango for example. Hokkaido mango; the most heavily equipped, high cost production. Miyazaki mango; the highest price mango production with heating facility. Okinawa mango; the lowest cost production with non-heating facility. Domestic mango production in greenhouse : high cost production (Potted culture) Okinawa: Non-heating low cost production (planted into a soil) Fruit with green color remaining is the second grade Scars caused by Thrips also 2nd grade This is a high Quality Irwin Brand name Egg of the Sun Sugar contents is more than 15 Brix. Perfect color development. No scars from disease and insect on the Fruit surface. Fruit must be harvested at full maturity when it drops in a net or paper sac.

8 H o w e v e r, only 1% of the total production is approved as Egg of the Sun Fruit is catch by a net in Miyazaki Fruit is catch by a paper bag in Okinawa All mango tree in Japan must be grown under plastic houses. 1. Protection from rain (Anthracnose disease, and from cold temperature. 2. Pollination by honeybee or fly) There are two types of greenhouses; A: Strong structure plastic house or B: Simple pipe structure vinyl film house. Strong structure plastic house ($380,000/1000m2) Double plastic covering with compressed air between the two layers for better insulation. Inside of the strong structure house Fan is for mixing air in the greenhouse Curtain and supplemental lighting Thermal screen Sodium (Na) Lamp Heating device is necessaries to grow mango in Japan except Okinawa Power of heater: 116 kW Fuel consumption: /h Electricity: AC 200V Netting on greenhouse for protecting insects and strong wind Let me talk about simple structure green house in Okinawa of greenhouse is short because of typhoon.

9 2. Vinyl film should be removed quickly when typhoon comes 3. However, net cover on the greenhouse must be practiced for wind break and for insect prevention. 4. There is no heating equipment. No heating fuel is the most advantage or disadvantage for Okinawa growers. Simple structure green house in Okinawa ($38,000/1000m2) Flowering at Ishigaki Island Okinawa. Visitors are from Oman At full bloom: mulching with sugarcane leaves A lot of sugarcane leaves are used for mulching on the ground to develop feeder roots Temperature should be 20~25 C at this stage high Quality Fruit is produced on good root system (many fibrous roots) Before bagging White paper bagging for catching Fruit and protection from insects or sunburn Pipes are used for training branches Shading Netting shading screen for protecting Fruit from sunburn Cost of Heating Oil Consumpsion of heating oil per 1000m2 (1/4 acre) YenUS$ liter)

10 Miyazaki Forcing culture25,0002,000,00025,000 Miyazaki heating culture20,0001,600,00020,000 Hokkaido heating culture 60,0004,800,00060,000 Okinawa non-heating culture000$25/kg and 2tons of yield per acre is the lowest price and yield for farmers If we can harvest 2000kg of Fruit per 1000m2,Gross income 1, ,000,00025,0002, ,000,00050,0003, ,000,00075,0004, ,000,000100,0005, ,000,000125,000 Prices per kgLet me talk little about our cultural practices Pruning Flower peduncle hanging Flower peduncle thinning Fruit thinning and hanging Netting and reflector setting Harvesting Let me explain about calendar of cultural practice 1. Calendar for harvesting in Summer (Floral initiation can be done during cold winter, but need heating for raising temperature up to 25 C for best Fruit setting.)